TAARANA. A concert that celebrates diverse forms of South Asian music, Taraana mixes classical South and North Indian music, folk songs, modern pop songs, with fusion pieces integrating jazz and hip hop. Uniting musicians from diverse corners of Harvard College with musicians from MIT and BU to present South Asian music, Taraana will be the first of its kind in the history of Harvard University. All profits from the concert will support shelters in Lowell and Worcester. Tickets $5, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone at (617) 496-2222. Saturday, March 15, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. Lowell Lecture Hall, 14 Kirkland St. (TIH)

MOZART SOCIETY ORCHESTRA. The Harvard Mozart Society Orchestra presents a concert featuring Gabriel Faure’s “Pelleas & Melisande,” Edouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in d minor featuring Stephanie J. Lai, ’06, the 2002 Freshman Concerto Competition Winner, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Excerpts from the ballet “Romeo and Juliet.” Saturday, March 15, at 8 p.m. Tickets $8 regular, $6 students (2 per ID), $6 seniors, available at the door, the Harvard Box Office or by phone at (617) 496-2222. Paine Music Hall (TIH) 

dance

JOSE MATEO’S BALLET THEATRE.  Take a critically-acclaimed ballet company, add a dash of cabaret atmosphere, and what do you get?  Local choreographer Jose Mateo’s new show, which will unveil two new dances in a novel setting that places dancers and spectators on the same visual plane.  Audience members can sip cocktails during the show, making this one of the classiest and most relaxed evenings of ballet around.  Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 16 at 4 p.m.  Runs through Sunday, April 13.  Tickets $28, available by phone (617) 354-7467.  Old Cambridge Baptist Church, 400 Harvard Street. (TC)

TAP THIS! TAPS. Harvard’s only tap dance performance group, features a wide variety of musical styles from pop to samba to Irish in TAP this! TAPS’ fifteen undergraduate members will showcase their dance and choreography skills. The show will also feature guest stars Expressions and Mainly Jazz. $7 regular, $5 students (2 per ID), and $5 seniors, on sale at the Harvard Box Office or by phone at (617) 496-2222. Friday, March 14, 7:30 p.m. Lowell Lecture Hall, 14 Kirkland St. (TIH)

theater

TALK TO ME. Spend a night in boarding school and the Adams Pool—but leave the drama to the actors. An original play by Ellenor J. Honig ’04, Talk To Me deals with obsession and friendship, and pushes the line between performance and reality. Thursday, March 13 through Saturday, March 15th at 8 p.m, with an additional show at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets $5, $4 students, $3 Adams House residents, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone (617) 496-2222. Adams House Pool Theatre. (LAA)

IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE. Where would you like to visit after you die? The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 155th spoof takes you through Heaven, Hell, and Limbo in a production of Divine Comedy proportions. Meet Rabbi Noah Fense, Nun Taken, and the Roman General Curtis Interruptus. Hilarious. Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets $25 weekdays, $27 weekends. Group discounts available. Through Wednesday, March 19. Hasty Pudding Theater, 12 Holyoke St., (617) 495-5205. (TIH)

THE MENAECHMI OF PLAUTUS. Come one, come all, to this hilarious comedy of errors, otherwise known as the Harvard Classical Club’s production of Plautus’ ancient Roman comedy. A provocative medley of song and satire, this bawdy parade of stock characters and wild confrontations has charmed audiences for over 2000 years, providing the inspirational fodder behind Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors and Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. See story on page B-6. Friday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, March 15, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets on sale at the Harvard Box Office or by phone at (617) 496-2222. Agassiz Theatre. (JET)

SAKINA’S RESTAURANT. Aasif Mandvi’s Obie Award winning comedy comes off its long off-Broadway run with a fresh viewpoint. The Harvard South Asian Association presents “Sakina’s Restaurant,” a funny and heart-warming one-man show that centers around Azgi, an Indian emigrant who comes to New York to work in a restaurant and realize the “American dream.” Through the varied perspectives of Indian-born and second generation Indian-Americans, a series of vignettes strung together by clever and touching parables follow his impassioned and humorous attempts to make sense of America. Friday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets $6 adults, $5 students, children, seniors, available at the Harvard Box Office or by phone at (617) 496-2222. Leverett House Old Library. (TIH)

HIGHWAY ULYSSES. This adaptation by American Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Robert Woodruff follows a modern-day Ulysses as he travels to retrieve his son, who is being held by state social services after the death of his mother, Ulysses’s ex-wife. The play takes a powerful and bleak journey through a mind tortured by a violent, war-filled past. Based on the prototypical road trip saga, the show is simultaneously the poignant memoir of an abused wife and mother and a commentary on the myths of war and heroism. Daily at 7:30 p.m. except Mondays (2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sundays) through March 22. Tickets $34-$68, available at the ART Box Office or by phone 617-547-8300. American Repertory Theater, 64 Brattle St. (SHP)

improv

IDES(ISH) OF MARCH. Join the Immediate Gratification Players (otherwise known as the IGP) for yet another evening of improv. Who cares if the very next day will be the anniversary of the death of Julius Caesar? They sure don’t. Let’s laugh! Friday, March 14th at 8 p.m. Free. Adams House Lower Common Room. (TIH)